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A new frog species from rapidly dwindling cloud forest streams of Sri Lanka—Lankanectes pera (Anura, Nyctibatrachidae)
- Source :
- Zootaxa. 4461
- Publication Year :
- 2018
- Publisher :
- Magnolia Press, 2018.
-
Abstract
- The monotypic genus Lankanectes, considered an evolutionary long branch with India’s Nyctibatrachus as its sister lineage, is represented by L. corrugatus, a species widely distributed within the wet zone of Sri Lanka up to 1500 m asl, where it inhabits a variety of lotic and lentic habitats. Here, following an integrative taxonomic approach using DNA-based phylogenies, morphology, morphometry, and ecological niche models, we describe a new species—Lankanectes pera sp. nov. The new species is distinguished from its sister species mainly by its tuberculated throat and absence of dark patches on venter, throat, manus and pes. The uncorrected genetic distances between the two Lankanectes species for a fragment of the non-coding mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene is 3.5–3.7%. The new species has a very restricted climatic distribution with a total predicted area of only 360 km2 (vs. 14,120 km2 for L. corrugatus). Unlike L. corrugatus, which prefers muddy substrates and marshy areas, the new species is observed inhabiting only pristine streams flowing through canopy covered montane forests in the highest reaches of the Knuckles Mountain range. The specialized new species will need immediate conservation attention due to its restricted distribution (montane isolate), specialized habit of inhabiting clear mountain streams, and small population size.
- Subjects :
- 0301 basic medicine
River ecosystem
Lineage (evolution)
India
Forests
Amphibia
03 medical and health sciences
Rivers
Genus
RNA, Ribosomal, 16S
Animals
Animalia
Nyctibatrachus
Chordata
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Sri Lanka
Taxonomy
Ecological niche
Cloud forest
biology
Ecology
Small population size
Biodiversity
biology.organism_classification
030104 developmental biology
Habitat
Nyctibatrachidae
Animal Science and Zoology
Anura
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 11755334 and 11755326
- Volume :
- 4461
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Zootaxa
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....9d30849d0e878f5251e3eab03203d0ed